


Green Sands

by aliceinbloom



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 14:32:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4063495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliceinbloom/pseuds/aliceinbloom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione is put on a team to re-create time turners while working for the Ministry. After a rather well placed fall, she finds herself in the past when Voldemort first rose to power. Now she has to fight her way through again to freedom and back to her own time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, another time turner fic! I couldn't help myself - I'm sorry. 
> 
> Everything is owned by JK Rowling.

Hermione had been there all night - she only knew this when she'd woken up at her desk, a crick in her neck painfully preventing her to lean back up. She hadn't meant to work for so late but she felt like she was close to a break through about how to get the little golden object that hung so carefully in front of her to work.

  
The problem was to get her arthimacy problem to be solved - one of the final steps to getting it to work. Plus add a few more complex charms and everything should be fine and dandy, right?

  
Finally, after trying to get the sleep out of her eyes, rubbing hard at her neck, she forced herself to sit back up. A groan escapes her while she attempts stretch herself out. Why did she constantly do this?

  
Right.

  
She'd recently ended things with Ron. It was after being alone for the first time in the in years they'd realized that they were like oil and water. They could mix for a bit but in the end it hadn't worked out. They were just too different and wanted things that made their relationship strain far too often.

  
Yawning loudly she leans back, staring at the necklace again. She'd been so close before she'd remembered that she was human and not a robot.

  
Just as she was about to rise out of her seat the familiar hum of Draco Malfoy turned her attention to the door. He was much more relaxed now. His hair was tied at the base of his neck, clothes less proper, and he'd settled down with Astoria Greengrass after the war. The two had some how found solace in each other. They now had their first child on the way and Draco was always in a great mood because of how close he was to having his first heir.

  
"Sleep here again did you?," he questioned while he took a sip of his coffee from a paper cup he held. He levitated another over to her and she gratefully accepted it.

"Didn't mean to," she murmured, voice thick from still waking up. "I was so close but my train of thought is lost on me..."

  
Draco came up to look at her jumbled looking notes. He was a pro at reading her quick, now messy scrawl. "Very close... Listen, when I wake up a little more I'll leave some notes on it. You go home, shower, and come back. You smell like death, Granger."

  
She huffs, pushing at his shoulder lightly. A year of working besides each other had made them, in a sense, friends, despite a small tenseness that still resided there. "Oh shut up you prat. I'll be back in an hour - when I'm supposed to be here."

  
And with that she left, allowing the blond to take her place at the desk she'd covered in her notes.

  
An hour later she came back. She was nice and clean and fed. Her hair had been shoved back into a messy bun and she looked better than she had the hour Draco had come to bring her her coffee.

  
"Did you find anything that needed fixing?," she stretched as she lugged a chair over to sit in the opposite of the desk.

  
Draco was scribbling madly on another piece of paper. A noncommittal grunt was his only answer. She knew he wasn't going to be able to respond for the next... few minutes? Hour(s)? So she nods, taking up a paper she was sure he wasn't looking at to go through the charm steps she had gone through. There were three more to go through - ones that would help get it up and running - but if she wished to do any she had to wait for Draco to make his own changes before going ahead.

  
And she was correct on that hour.

  
He suddenly shoved the chair away, eyes unseeing for a second, before his wand was up and he was muttering an incantation beneath his breath on the time turner. Hermione watched, hand gripping at her quill in suspense. She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing - the sands inside were beginning to glow an unnaturally bright silvery-blue, swishing between both channels. It was a brilliant display while - to the untrained eye - 'gears' (aka ruins) began to make the sand grow hot. Hermione could of sworn it was changing color as he continued.

  
Draco was sweating by the time it began to spin. If only she could join! But she had no idea what incantation he was doing this time. She couldn't decipher the latin he was muttering at such a quick pace fast enough.

  
After what seemed like a lifetime the sand began to cool down, the sand return to it's normal ashy-brown color (or had it changed color? Hermione wasn't quite sure at this point for it looked like it'd been tinted green somewhat), and Draco slumped back into his chair. By this time Hermione had transfigured a new piece of parchment into a cup, filling it with water. She shoved it over to Draco who sat panting as if he'd done a marathon.

  
"I think... I did something good," he gulped out after he took a small sip of water. "Minutes."

  
She understood the short explanation right away. "Alright, that's good. Now we just need hours, correct?" She eyed the necklace again. It was still glowing hot despite the change of going back to regular color (tinted green, she reminded herself). "I believe that I'll do that next. You're going to be depleted for the next day or two."

  
Unfortunately such a spell would have to wait. She knew it would take at least a few hours more or even a day to get back to hand-holding condition and she'd need to touch it for the next part.

  
"Yes, that sounds great," he drawled out, blinking over at her, seemingly in an attempt to keep himself from slurring in his sudden exhaustion. He wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. "I'm starving. Care for lunch?"

  
Hermione looked over at the clock. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, "Merlin's beard! I didn't realize the spell had taken that long. Yes, let's go. I'm sure you're starving after that."

  
They went to lunch where Astoria had joined them both (Draco had forgotten he'd been asked to join until an owl had swooped in to pester him with a letter). She was glowing, belly swollen, and absolutely ecstatic with their progress.

  
"I'm so proud of you both," she beamed, smiling pleasantly. "You've come so far since being asked to do this."

  
Draco leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. With a teasing tone, eyes shooting to the messy haired woman across from them, "Can you believe I'm friend's with Granger now as well?"

  
"It's a bloody miracle," Hermione stuck her tongue out at them both before taking a gracious sip of her chilled mint tea. It was sticky hot outside and it permeated into the restaurant they were currently sitting in. "But we're a good team on this project. We should be done within the month if possible."

  
"Are you sure about that? I swore you had five more charms and potions to dip that thing into," Draco teased, taking a bite out of his sandwich then. It was his second plate at this point. He'd been depleted much more than Hermione (or Astoria) had thought.

"Oh hush! It's all for precaution - plus they asked for minutes, hours, and even _months_."

"Riiight."

  
After lunch it was only Hermione that had left to go back to the Ministry. Draco had almost passed out while sitting at the table and Astoria bullied him to go home via floo from the restaurant after having a fit at the manager. Now back in her office she was surprised to see the time turner back to it's original and normal heat. It should have taken that short of time... but Hermione shoved it past her line of thought. She was just happy that she could begin working on the next part. 

  
Picking it up, she sat down in one of the few seats besides the desk and stared at what Draco and herself had accomplished. It was much simpler than the one she'd been given in her third year at Hogwarts. The ruins were much different as well as the small inscription that circled the hour glass.

  
'Tempus est pretiosus.'

  
Time is precious.

  
That's all it said and for some reason it seemed to fit much better than what had been on it before (from what her fuzzy memory could recall of it). Spinning the hour glass (knowing it wouldn't do a damn thing for now), she hummed happily, eyes bright at her mindchild project. Bless Draco Malfoy for being brilliant at this. Bless her being put on this project since she'd had first hand experience and knowledge on time turners. Out of a moment of impulse, she set the chain around her neck. It was warm and inviting and (thankfully) stuck in the spot she'd set it after fiddling with it. Which was another brilliant idea from Draco - a sticking charm that would only unstick if human fingers were set upon it to move. When it wasn't being touched it would stay in it's spot. Plus the only way to activated - truly activate it - was to press the button at the top. It would allow the thing to begin spinning and the sand to move. 

  
A few hours later of more notes and of more grumbling over how difficult this had to be (why was it so difficult! damn thing, not wanting to be solved so easily), she stretched and looked at the clock. For once she'd be out on time. Almost. Maybe.

  
It took one more hour before Hermione was clocking her way out of the Ministry. As she went out of the door she found herself playing with the bauble on her neck --  
She tripped and her hand slipped, pressing the button on top of the time turner.

  
The time turner spun and everything went into chaos as Hermione fell to the floor. She watched in apt horror as things blurred around her at such a rapid pace that she wasn't quite sure what to do at first. Practically hyperventilating, the witch couldn't wrap her mind around anything until she remembered the time turner around her neck-- right! The time turner!

  
Hand coming to clasp the offending object she stopped it as best as she could. Her hand seared with pain from the heat but she didn't stop holding onto it until the bloody thing stopped spinning. Which happened several moments after. Her magic pulsed in her alarm (she desperately hoped that was what was helping her) while it began to slowly stop spinning. 

  
When it finally did Hermione found herself with the predicament of sitting with a small piece of metal, glass, and sand practically embedded into her hand. It vibrated angrily while Hermione continued to pulse out her magic to some how soothe the angry magical object. It seemed to cooperate. Staring dumbly through the pain she lifted herself up onto wobbly legs and began to trek herself out of the hallway and back into her office--- 

\-- only to find it filled with stacks of papers. 

Well _that_ wasn't right. 

Blearily she walks back out, only to bump into something solid and warm. Staring up through the blur, she squinted, trying to decipher who this person was but her vision had begun to go completely by the time she felt arms wrap around herself clumsily. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wakes up to make a startling discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The usual note - JK Rowling owns everything.

Her mind was a jumbled mess.

Not that she was particularly fantastic at keeping her thoughts un-jumbled. It wasn't a possibility in her current, completely doped up state, but she had to try to think, right? She had to... had to catalogue, as it were, of what she was feeling through the haze. 

The first thing she felt was the complete numbness in her hand. The left one, she assumed The second was the scratchy blanket on top of her legs. The third... the third was the sterile smell mixed with something else. And when she opened her eyes, she was thankful that the lights were dim, and that she wouldn't have to suffer from staring up at the sterilizingly blind white while she laid in what she assumed to be a hospital bed. 

When her vision came to - completely - she found herself staring almost blindly at a man who slept rather awkwardly in a very uncomfortable looking chair. He had a shock of bright red hair, a shabby brown suit on, and he very much looked like what she assumed Ron would be in the next ten or so years of his life if he didn't keep working out. 

Like, she could definitely see Ron. Just... pudgy. And balding just ever so slightly. 

Arthur? Was this Arthur Weasley? It had to be him despite the softness of his face. There were hardly any worry lines that creased his freckles and he certainly didn't have the turkey neck he'd gained after the war (he'd lost so much weight from stress after the death of Fred). 

After a moment of impulse she shoved herself up into a sitting position despite her body protesting the action. This caused some alarm to go off in the distance (bells? it had to be bells) and a Medi-Wizard waltzed into the room. He was rather plain looking -  brown hair, dull grey eyes, pale complexion, but he had a brilliant smile that made Hermione squint in the dim light of the room. It was almost blinding how relieved he seemed to see her awake.

"Ah, I see you're finally awake," he practically chirped as he came to her bedside. She couldn't quite speak (her mouth was gummy from sleep, throat completely dry whether she admited to it or yet) yet but he didn't seem to mind the lack of response. "You've been out for two days, lass. Don't give me that look! You expended your magic to stop that time turner imbedded into your hand. I'm just surprised it didn't take you longer to recover." 

With that he gently took her hand while she stared at him as if he'd turned into a troll. 

Two days? He had said... two.... two days? She'd misheard him - certainly she had! That wasn't possible! And-- 

"Oh!," Arthur snorts, waking up with a start. He looked positively wild for a hot second before calming down, gripping at the chair like a lifeline as he shakes off whatever terror he was having behind unseeing eyes. His voice is thick from sleep, but excited non-the-less when he comes around, "Our Jane Doe has awoken! I can finally tell Molly the good news. She was worried about you, you know."

"Of course she has - she recieved the best medicine after you found her. Can't believe we couldn't get that thing out of her hand though." The Medi-Wizard tsks, still examining her hand after he'd taken guaze off of it (she hadn't even noticed, it was so numb she didn't think it was possibly to feel how his hands softly brush against the outer edges of the wound). "The thing is literally melded into her skin. It... can still move, which is ever stranger, but nothing can be done without actually chopping her hand off." 

Hermione slowly became more alert. Especially when the wizard turned her hand to show her what had happened. It had indeed infused with her skin. The gold had literally melted into a patterern within her skin, looking almost impractically like a tattoo. What set it apart from said, hypothetical tattoo, was the glass sphere poking out awkwardly from her palm, completely green sand swishing about when the wizard gently shook it on her to show what he meant.

  
Dumbly she did it herself, completely fascinated at what her body had decided to do - no what her magic had decided to do. But... it would be a problem. She wouldn't be able to do anything with it until she figured out how to extract it. And that in it's own worth was an even a bigger problem than she wanted to admit. Once a magical object infused with a person it was almost next to impossible to get it out. Unless... you know... you tore off that part of skin or chopped of the limb or just died from the stress. 

Finally, after waking up just enough, wetting her quickly drying mouth, she stares between the wizards, before speaking, "Where--" Her voice is scratchy and uncomfortable. The Medi-Wizard gives her a glass of water to drink (which she chugs if she was honest). "-- Where am I? St. Mungos?" 

"That is correct, Jane Doe. You are at St. Mungos - Arthur Weasley found you stumbling about a department wing that has been closed off for storage when you surged." At her dumb look, he explained further, "Your magic had an outburst... in what we think was out of fear and preservation," He tenderly wrapped her hand back up after cleaning up around the angry red of the gold, "Of your strange time turner that is now apart of you." 

"Oh." She found herself unable to keep sitting up so she laid back down, mind reeling. "What... what year is it?"

"Ah, that would be the question," Arthur suddenly interjected. "It's 1977."  
And Hermione promptly stared at him in horror. "Please be kidding." 

He shook his head solemnly, "I'm afraid I'm very much telling the truth." 

"I... I have to speak with..." She didn't know if she could speak to Dumbledore. He might-- god she knew he had been a Legilimens, what if he looked into her mind? She couldn't let him see the future! "I..." She stared over at Arthur, throat bobbbing. "Shite." 

"Just heal up, Jane," he stood from his chair, joints creaking with it, and puts a hand over her own. "Molly and myself will continue to come watch over you. When you're strong enough we'll figure out how to help you." 

"Hermione." 

"What?" 

"My name is Hermione." 

"Hermione." Arthur blazed her with a smile while the Medi-Wizard in the background wrote it down onto a piece of paper. 

"Well-," the nameless Medi-Wizard came back into the picture. "At least you gave us that. Now just rest, Hermione. We'll talk when you're more coherent. I'll send for something light to snack on and then your main doctor will take over."

Hermione rubbed at her eyes. Everything was being catalogued in her head as 'panic' and 'fascination' at what was happening. "... Right. Right. Sounds... sounds good. Thank you, the both of you." And she gives a wobbly smile to the two men in the room.


End file.
